Mesalazine, also known as mesalamine or 5-aminosalicylic acid (“5-ASA”) is an anti-inflammatory drug having the following structure.

Mesalazine has proven to be an effective treatment for maintaining remission of Crohn's disease. It has also proven to be effective for treating the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (“IBS”), ulcerative colitis, and other conditions involving inflammation of the lower bowel.
Existing mesalazine formulations, however, exhibit a number of significant drawbacks. Although mesalazine can be administered orally as a treatment for Crohn's disease, it must be administered as a rectal suppository to be effective at treating conditions of the lower bowel. Existing mesalazine treatments require relatively large doses, and must be administered frequently to maintain effective control of inflammation.
It is therefore desirable to develop alternatives to existing mesalazine formulations that provide effective control of inflammation at lower doses of the active ingredient. It is also desirable to develop alternative active compounds that are easier and more economical to incorporate into stable pharmaceutical formulations.